A great deal of information has come to light over the past several decades about the role of arbitration between the Greek states. Arbitration and mediation were, in fact, central institutions in Hellenistic public life. In this comprehensive study, Sheila Ager brings together the scattered body of literary and epigraphical sources on arbitration, together with up-to-date bibliographic references, and commentary. The sources collected here range widely; Ager presents an exhaustive record of documents ranging from the settlement of a minor territorial squabble between two tiny city-states to the resolution of major conflicts separating the great powers of the day. In addition, Ager's introduction sets the documents in historical context and outlines distinctions among categories of arbitration. The work also includes indices to literary passages, inscriptions, persons, places, subjects, and Greek and Latin terms in the documents. This collection of many previously inaccessible texts will become a primary resource for any scholar or student working in the field of Hellenistic history.

The first full-length description and analysis of how dispute resolution by mediation and arbitration developed in the Ancient Greek world, from Homer to Cleopatra. Based on all the primary sources, with the relevant extracts in new translations: not only poetry, drama, history, philosophy and oratory, but also inscriptions and the mass of arbitration documents surviving as papyri. Introductory chapters deal with theory and method, language and translation, and the Greek legal system. The conclusions show how mediation and arbitration were partners in the ordinary processes of dispute resolution, and widespread in all the times and places examined. Publisher's note.

This comprehensive, exhaustive, and reliable compendium examines the evidence for arbitrations between the Greek states during the Hellenistic Age and represents a major research achievement. Sheila Ager brings together a vast and scattered body of primary literary and epigraphic sources, and presents this new evidence collected in a series of case studies. These "cases" of arbitration or mediation vary widely, ranging from the settlement of a minor territorial squabble between two tiny city-states to the resolution of major conflicts separating the great powers of the day.